Mexico is a land of unlimited opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. Ranking as the most hardworking population by the OECD this country has the 15th largest economy in the world. The market here is very competitive and exceedingly manifold that can be attractive and deterrent at the same time. The key growing industries in Mexico are manufacturing, health tourism, and high-tech industries. Start a business in Mexico, and you'll see this is a worthy venture but a hard nut to crack. In order to address the challenge adequately, you must be knowledgeable about all traps and pitfalls you can face with on your way.

Choice of idea

Mexico has an amazingly friendly business climate, especially for small businesses. In order to open a business in Mexico, you need minimum capital, a great idea and time. There are many promising industries you can find attractive to deal with, and here is our list of best business to start in Mexico:

Healthcare is a very developing field with the growth of more than 8% year by year — in 2017 it was expected to reach $103.4 billion of revenue.

Manufacturing is an extremely powerful industry in Mexico — the country is accountable for the export of more than 60% manufacturing in Latin America. There are very lucrative small-scale, medium, and large-scale manufacturing.

Tourism in here is the key industry — Mexico is rank 8 in the world for visiting by travelers with over 20 million tourists per a year.

The retail sector is one of the most fast-growing in Mexico that outperforms GDP.

These are just several examples, but there are a vast number of business ideas in Mexico you can start from scratch.

Register your business

According to how you are going to run your business, you have to pick the type of your business structure for your Mexico business registration. The decision on a legal structure of your company is always a crucial step, that’s why do not hesitate to take a local expert legal advice. In fact, there are a few options and almost all of the structures can be used by foreigners as well as local citizens:

Sole trader,

Limited liability stock corporation (S.A, or S.A. de C.V),

Limited liability corporation (S. De R.L.),

Partnership (general SNC or limited SCS),

Branch of an established business.

Opening a small business in Mexico can be finished in a few steps:

Find a notary in order to assist you to compose and verify the most important documents.

Register the legal name of your company. You can do it online with the Gob.mx and get the name in a couple of days.

Sign up the operating agreement with help of your notary, providing the proof of your ID, valid visa if you are a foreigner and your actual address.

This step is not mandatory for everyone, but you should clarify about this with your notary. You might need to register your business with the National Business Information Registry controlled by the Department of Trade.

Legal obligations and responsibilities

Operating a business requires not only total dedication but also constructive knowledge of all licenses and permits for a business. If you don’t know how to start a business in Mexico but want to, the first thing you should care about is to find out which licenses, registrations, and permits you need to operate the business legally. It doesn’t matter American businesses in Mexico you are going to open or another one, as the owner of your business you must register the SAT (tax authorities).

Some Mexico’s businesses are required to have a permit for a legal trading. Shops and restaurant (and other enterprises that sale good directly to customers) need to have the registration from the local government. Going to hire someone? — Register your company with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the National Workers Housing Fund (INFONAVIT). To learn more about licenses and permits in Mexico you can contact any government office of a local city/county or try to find the information online.

Where find help to start business

Starting a business in Mexico, you should be aware of all organizations and programs that can help you to get your venture off the ground. Raising capital for a small business in Mexico is a challenging way for the bravest entrepreneurs. These are the most common options for startups to raise money:

- Government funding programs and grants. The Mexican Government offers many bonuses for opening a business in Mexico in the particular industries, like the described in the first section of this article.

- Angel investors. These private depositors use their personal capital to provide businesses with financial support, consultations, equipment, etc. in exchange for a share of ownership the company.

- Venture capital (VC). This form of funding is very similar to previous one, and usually using in early-stage businesses. The only difference with angel investors is that VC are financial organizations: investment banks, venture capital funds, pension funds.

- Crowdfunding. Many innovative, low-cost projects raised money on Kickstarter.com, which is the most popular crowdfunding platform today.

Promoting your brand in Mexico try to meet as many people as you can. In this case, local networking events which you can find on sites as Meetup, Eventful and Eventbrite would be ideal for you. On such events, you can talk to people about your business, find useful business contacts and future loyal customers.